The Full Bar - all my pages

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Lew Has Left The Building

I
regret to say that four months after resigning my position as
managing editor, I will no longer be writing a column or whiskey reviews for
Whisky Advocate. After more than 20 years of being part of the
voice of the magazine, I was told on Monday that because the magazine
was "going in a different direction," my services in those
capacities were no longer needed.

I
was afforded an incredible opportunity, and I'm grateful for that,
however it ended. It has also been a complete pleasure to work with
this loosely-knit team of the best whisky writers in the world. Every
three months, fascinating writing would arrive in my inbox, affording
me a fantastic whisky education.

It
has been an equal pleasure to work with representatives from all
parts of the industry, to watch that grow from a solid core of
long-term veterans in the mid-1990s to a small army of exciting new
personalities as the industry entered another boom phase, and then to
welcome the small producers of the craft distilling category. I very
much look forward to continuing that association.

I've
certainly also enjoyed the readers of the magazine: their excitement,
their loyalty, their engagement, and their eager interest in the
brown spirit that's entranced us all. It's been fantastic to meet you
at the events over the years, and I hope to see all of you in the
future.

Of
course, I'm not leaving whiskey! There's a new book project to work
on, I've returned to writing this blog (really, I have, and I know I owe you some whiskey reviews), and several magazines have
welcomed me back as a freelancer (with more projects in the works).
I'm also back to writing about beer, which I missed terribly, and
that will now expand as well. I may even expand my writing into new
areas; I have a couple projects percolating.

Onward and outward!

One
door closes, and many more open. What do the different directions of
the future hold for me? Nothing's sure, but I hope it holds more
opportunities to see each of you, and more chances to work with you,
in some capacity or another. I'm certain it will hold more chances to
share a drink and some laughs.

Wow...the magazine and Whisky Fest will not be the same without you. Your articles, reviews and opinions were always what I most looked forward to. Sad to see you go, but I'll be sure to follow your future endeavors!

My personal experience, and everybody else's may differ: I was a big fan of Wine Spectator for years, because while I understood the target audience was for folks with more money than I had, it was a great way to learn about wine because every issue focused on 2-3 different regions, many of which produced affordable wines -- so it helped me learn and explore without getting burned (that often), and meanwhile decide what to save up for re: the pricier bottles/regions. What helped was the 22-issues-a-year schedule -- that allowed them the space to range from high to low, and talk about a wide variety of things relating to wine. I had hoped for the same from Whisky Advocate when Shanken Pubs took over, but found that there wasn't nearly as much space devoted to education and more affordable offerings as there was devoted to whiskies targeted to folks with more money than I had. Which is fine, but I do wonder whether the magazine might reach a wider audience if it moved to 8-12 issues a year rather than four, giving it space to better serve a wider range of readers.

Wow! I can't believe that Whisky Advocate is so short-sighted as to not recognize that you are a pillar of whisky literacy. Your voice holds such significance throughout the spirits community! I guess their new direction is "down"! Pity the fools!!

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All opinions expressed on this blog are strictly my own; they do not reflect those of the publications for which I write.
I've been a full-time drinks writer since 1996. My first whiskey book, "Tasting Whiskey," came out in October 2014. I am the author of four regional brewery guidebooks. Next time you see me at a bar or event or distillery, say hi.